Priorities
by TheCuriousWriter
Summary: Perry has conflicting priorities with his life as a secret agent and a pet, but he always knows which priority always comes first. Spoilers from Across the 2nd Dimension.


Author's Note: This is a scene from the movie told from Perry's perspective.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas and Ferb.

Priorities

"That was awesome!" Perry could not have disagreed more with his owner's declaration once they got off the chair ride. Singing, animatronic gnomes and that guy dressed in a goat costume holding a birthday cake were all things his nemesis recalled in his backstories, citing them as reasons for becoming evil.

"Ugh, now who's interrupting me?" Dread filled Perry's stomach when the almost-perfect replica of his arch nemesis spoke. Unlike the Doofenshmirtz from his dimension, this evil scientist had an eye patch over his left eye, wore all black, and had a goatee. "Remind me to berate my Indentured Executive Assistant."

"No, no, man," Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Perry's dimension spoke up, pointing to the two boys and him. "It's cool. They're with me."

Phineas, with his usual carefree grin, led them over to the man they helped to create the Other-Dimensionator. Perry preoccupied himself with trying to find all the possible exits that he could take with his owners. He had to take into account that neither of his owners had secret spy training, and thus jumping out the window or going through the vents would probably lead to them getting hurt or worse. This was not going to be an easy escape.

"Hey, Dr. D! We thought we lost you," Phineas greeted.

The Doofenshmirtz from their dimension returned his smile. "Hey guys!" Just then, the other dimension Doofenshmirtz grabbed his counter-part, glaring at him with his one eye.

"You dare you bring a secret agent in here?" he asked in a low voice. Perry thanked his training for helping him to not panic.

Confused, Dr. Doofenshmirtz looked away from the furious black-coated, evil overlord and over to Phineas. "This boy's a secret agent?"

"No, no! Not him!" The Doofenshmirtz from the other dimension shook his head. He couldn't understand why his counterpart did not immediately realize whom he was talking about.

"The quiet one?" Perry watched Ferb turn to Phineas and shrug. At least they did not know whom the other dimension Doofenshmirtz was referring to out of the three of them.

"No, no!" Fed up with his counterpart's stupidity, the other dimension Doofenshmirtz leaned forward and pointed directly at the secret agent. "Him!"

There was a moment of silence as his counterpart stared at just what he was pointing at. "This plant?"

Phineas and Ferb turned to look at a plotted plant that was next Perry. Out of the corner of his eye, Perry tried to see if the plotted plant was actually Planty the Plotted Plant, but it had more leaves and was of a different species of plotted plant.

The other dimension Doofenshmirtz could take no more of his counterpart's faulty guessing. "The platypus! That's secret agent Perry the Platypus!"

"Whoa, whoa, hey," Phineas interrupted, motioning with his hands to Perry. "He's just a platypus. He doesn't do much."

Perry was thankful that Phineas stood up for his role as their pet, but it seemed that the other dimension Doofenshmirtz was not as quick to believe his owners as their dimension Doofenshmirtz was.

"Oh, oh, this is rich," the other dimension Doofenshmirtz smiled cruelly at his owners. "I see what's going on here. You, you really think that he's your pet, don't you? Wrong! He's using you; you're just his cover. He's a secret agent! And I'm going to prove it to you!" He looked up towards the ceiling. "General Platyborg, come down here at once!" He looked back down at them. "He'll be here in just a minute." Perry's heart just about stopped when he saw his counterpart descend to the ground in front of the other dimension Doofenshmirtz. "And then—ow!" He quickly pulled his foot out from under the half-robot version of Perry, and though it was rather humorous, Perry was in too much shock to get much amusement out of it.

Once the other dimension Doofenshmirtz recovered, he looked down at the platyborg. "Alright, Platyborg, you see that platypus? You know what to do."

As a secret agent, Perry could have easily dodged and countered anything this platyborg had to throw at him, but as Phineas and Ferb's pet, he was a platypus that could not do much. He would gladly take the hit to avoid having his cover blown.

General Platyborg charged right at Perry and smacked him hard in his gut, and Perry felt himself sail through the air all the way to the other side of the room. He made sure to land on his feet in a way that suggested he just happened to land in that position, and then he shook, acting as though he was just shaking off the pain.

"Perry!" Phineas exclaimed in horror. Perry felt a little guilty for making his owners worry, but a few hits would not do him much damage. The other dimension Doofenshmirtz would hopefully buy his act and leave them alone.

"What was that for!" Phineas angrily shouted at the other dimension Doofenshmirtz before both he and his stepbrother rushed over to Perry's side. "Perry, are you okay?"

"Told ya!" Doofenshmirtz rubbed into his counterpart, but the other dimension Doofenshmirtz only frowned in thought.

Ferb grabbed a stethoscope out of his purple overalls and began checking Perry over with it. His owners never ceased to amaze him with their widgets and gadgets that they always seemed to have on hand.

"How are his vitals?" Phineas asked, putting his hand gently on Perry's head.

"Wait, let me try something." Perry watched the other dimension Doofenshmirtz turn his attention back to the platyborg. "Platyborg, do the same thing to those two boys."

"What?" Perry's nemesis asked in shock, and from this moment Perry knew that the other dimension Dr. Doofenshmirtz was more evil than his Dr. Doofenshmirtz could ever hope to be.

The platyborg did not hesitate with this order and charged right towards Phineas and Ferb. They both just sat there on either side of him, staring with wide-eyes at the oncoming attack. General Platyborg made a fist and descended faster upon the two boys, prepared to harm them.

"What?" Phineas weakly managed to get out; his eyes were glued to the platyborg's fist.

Perry snapped.

In an instant, Perry dropped his act as a mindless animal and stood upright. He jumped forward a bit to make sure that the platyborg could get no closer to his beloved owners, and he punched him with more force than he usually used upon his enemies. The platyborg flew backwards, but his weight kept him from being thrown as far as Perry had been. Perry glared at him, prepared to tear that platyborg apart if he even tried to touch his owners again.

"Perry?" Phineas' small voice broke through Perry's rage. His stomach dropped, and he realized just what he had done. He placed his fedora on top of his head, realizing that there was no turning back now.

Perry looked back with guilty eyes at his owners, noticing that Phineas looked as though he had just been betrayed. He wanted to explain everything to him, wanted to have Phineas forgive him for keeping this secret from him. A part of him even wanted to take back what he had done so that he would never have to inevitably leave them forever, but he couldn't, and he wouldn't. He would never let anyone hurt his owners. He would protect them even if they ended up hating him.

"Perry?" Phineas voiced again. He looked at Perry as if he were begging for this to all be a lie—that his dear pet was not really a secret agent.

"Get them!" the other dimension Doofenshmirtz ordered, and Perry looked over to see two armored robots head after them. Instead of trying to fight them, Perry grabbed both his owners' wrists, holding them tighter than he had to as he pulled them away from the robots.

He never wanted to let them go. He wanted to be their pet more than anything in the world.

Perry's heart clenched at the thought of what would happen to them now. There was no going back to their life together. He would never be able to see them ever again.

Phineas looked at him, still filled with some disbelief and that dash of such an unprecedented feeling of betrayal. His next words confirmed everything and brought the reality of this dimension's Perry to his.

"You're a secret agent?"


End file.
